小石城的理发师 screening and discussion participants (from left): Racial Justice Initiative Director and Professor Ahmed Alwishah, 威廉·马歇尔25岁, 电影制作人约翰·霍夫曼, community bank founder Arlo 华盛顿, Pitzer总裁斯特罗姆·塞克尔, and Pitzer Vice President for Student Affairs Jan Barker Alexander. (图片来源:Miranda Yee ' 27)
小石城的理发师 presents an intimate picture of the racial wealth gap in the community of Arlo 华盛顿, 小石城的一个理发师, 阿肯色州, whose vision of a just economy led him to create a nonprofit community bank.
Earlier this week the Pitzer community welcomed 华盛顿 and John Hoffman, 影片的导演之一, for a special screening and discussion of the film, which has been nominated for a 2024 Academy Award.
Co-sponsored by the Presidential Initiative on Constructive Dialogue and 梅尔文L. Oliver Racial Justice Initiative (RJI), the event featured a post-screening discussion with Hoffman, 华盛顿, RJI Director and Professor Ahmed Alwishah, 威廉·马歇尔25岁, and Vice President for Student Affairs Jan Barker Alexander, 谁主持了讨论.
这部电影是 《推荐十大正规网赌网站》 Documentary Series and can be viewed online, is a poignant call for more private sector action and more efforts to help marginalized populations overcome the financial obstacles that impede their pursuit of the American Dream.
“遗憾的是, ‘banking while Black’ is a real thing,” says one of the people whom Hoffman and co-director Christine Turner interviewed in their film. “You come in [to a bank] and you’re Black, and there are no services offered.”
The lack of services and frustration at not being seen as credit-worthy have forced many in 华盛顿’s Little Rock community to find ways to enjoy their lives and find opportunities without the support of financial institutions.
Hoffman and Turner chronicle how 华盛顿 confronted this situation and developed People Trust, the sole bank within a 10-mile radius to give economic support to the area’s underserved and underbanked residents. 华盛顿 was able to create the bank with the support of the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, a program to help revitalize distressed communities that was started during the Clinton 政府.
Asked what attracted him and Turner to telling 华盛顿’s story, Hoffman explained that they wanted to embed with a Black-owned CDFI and discovered 华盛顿 in the course of their research.
“一旦你开始寻找,霍夫曼说, “you find that there is a very rich world of people, 还有其他的阿罗, who are creating these important parts of communities.”
起初, 华盛顿 was hesitant about the filmmakers’ proposal to make a documentary about him and the bank.
“It was something we really had to think about. We didn’t want to be out there exploiting our community members,” he explained. “John and Christine and the whole team did an excellent job of making us feel comfortable, of establishing that level of trust and keeping the integrity level really high. I’m glad we got a chance to share. I’m happy that it’s had an impact.”
Alwishah expressed admiration for 华盛顿’s analogizing of capital with blood to stress why Black communities critically need the same financial opportunities that others receive; Maxwell praised the filmmakers for their storytelling.
“You could have chosen anyone in the world to talk about, but because you were following someone so deeply entrenched in a community who is righting wrongs and giving a platform to those who need it most, that’s what gives this film such a strong foundation and that deserves so much respect and recognition,他说.
在讨论快结束时, 华盛顿 reflected on the policies of neglect and exclusion facing his community and many others and what this means for their belief in the American Dream. 他说，解决办法很简单. The answer is based on one word: opportunity.
在电影的开头, 正如你在屏幕上看到的, I say it’s about having an opportunity, 真正的机会,他说. “That’s what the American Dream is to me: actually getting a real chance at creating the opportunity for yourself and those around you.”
